Two female Kuwaiti ministers risk "dismissal" for not wearing the veil

A parliamentary committee has decided that their attire, without the hijab, violates the constitution and the electoral law. The matter will now be submitted to a vote in parliament.

The only two women in Kuwait's executive branch risk being driven out from the government. The parliamentary legal committee has decided that their presence violates the constitution and the law, because they do not wear the hijab, the Islamic veil. The committee's statement will now be submitted to voting by the fifty members of parliament.

The Kuwaiti parliament is dominated by conservatives, who had four of the seven seats on the committee. But three "liberals" also voted against the two women. "The committee unanimously decided that appointing the two ministers in the cabinet violated article 82 of the constitution and article one of the election law for failing to abide by Islamic regulations," says Ali al-Hajeri, spokesman for the legal and legislative committee.

The two women under accusation (shown in the photo at a parliamentary session) are education minister Nuriya al-Sebih and administrative development minister Mudhi al-Humoud. Appointed following the elections on May 17, the two women immediately met with negative reactions from conservatives. At its first session, on June 1, parliament approved submission of the matter to the committee, which has now decided. That same day, as cabinet members took the oath, nine parliamentarians left the hall in protest against the "un-Islamic" attire of the two women.

Iran: We busted a pigeon spy ring

Hot on the heels of last year's Spy Squirrel bust comes this victory for counter-espionage. "Iran arrests pigeons 'spying' on nuclear site."

One of the pigeons was caught near a rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, the Etemad Melli newspaper reported. It said that some metal rings and "invisible" strings were attached to the bird, suggesting that it might have been somehow communicating what it had seen with the equipment it was carrying.
"Early this month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings," a source told the newspaper.
The source gave no further description of the pigeons, nor what their fate might be.
Natanz is home to Iran's heavily-bunkered underground uranium enrichment plant, which is also not far from Kashan.
The activity at Iran's controversial uranium enrichment facility is the focus of Iran's five-year standoff with the West, which fears it aims to develop nuclear weapons. The Tehran government insists its programme is intended to generate power for civilian use only.
Last year, Iran issued a formal protest over the use of espionage by the United States to produce a key intelligence report on the country's controversial nuclear programme.
It is also highly suspicious of Israel, whose extensive intelligence activities are not known to include the use of pigeons.

Denmark: Two jihadists found guilty of preparing attack

Copenhagen, 21 Oct. (AKI) - A Danish citizen of Pakistani origin and an Afghani national were found guilty on Tuesday of preparing a terrorist attack after they were filmed mixing explosives.
Hammad Khuershid was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Abdoulghani Tokhi was sentenced to seven years by a court in the town of Glostrup, just outside the capital of Copenhagen. Both are in their early 20s.
The men were arrested after an anti-terror raid that saw Danish agents filming them as they were carrying out a test blast. The explosives were reportedly the same as those used in the 2005 London bombings that killed 52 people.
Both men claimed the explosives were going to be used for fireworks.
At the trial prosecutors alleged that Khuershid had ties to an Al-Qaeda operative but they were unsure whether the attack was going to take place in Denmark or abroad.
Investigators claimed to have found bomb-making manuals in the men's homes.
Tokhi has a residency permit to live legally in Denmark, but authorities said he would be deported after completing his sentence.
There have been several anti-terrorism raids, arrests of terrorism suspects and a terrorism trial in Denmark since 2005. That was the same year that the country attracted widespread condemnation from Muslims around the world after Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
Denmark is also involved in the war in Afghanistan and maintains a small contingent of troops in Iraq.

Jordanian poet arrested on charges of "harming the Islamic faith"

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Jordanian police arrested a local writer Tuesday for incorporating verses of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, into his love poetry, a judicial official said.
The poet, Islam Samhan, published his collection of poems, "Grace like a Shadow," without the approval of the Jordanian government, and authorities say it insults the holy book, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Samhan was charged with harming the Islamic faith and violating the press and publication law for combining the sacred words of the Quran with sexual themes.
If convicted, the poet could face up to three years in jail.
Jordanian law bans the publication of any books or articles that could be seen as harmful to Islam and its Prophet Muhammad.

A book of love poems can harm Muhammad from beyond the grave?

More than two years ago, the court convicted the editors of two weekly newspapers of insulting Islam and sentenced them to two months in prison after they reprinted Danish newspaper caricatures of Muhammad.
Jordanian writers and artists urged the government in a collective petition to immediately release the poet, saying the arrest is a "retreat in the freedom of expression," and called for an end to the "oppression of freedom and intimidation practiced against intellectuals."